What Makes A Survivor
by BarnacleButtGamer
Summary: What life was like for my Commander Shepard growing up. She is a colonist, and a Sole Survivor. Later on when she is older, she romances Garrus. I will continue to add chapters if this gets good reviews. Thanks for reading and have an awesome day!
1. Chapter 1

**What Makes A Survivor**

Chapter 1

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer, Always remember, you have within you the strength, The Patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world" - **Harriet Tubman.**

"Momma, please read one more story! I don't even feel tired yet." The little girl said, giving her mother who sat next to her on her bed the best pleading eyes she could give.

"Irene, I have already read you a story and you promised me you would go to bed when I was finished. It's already way past your bedtime." Her mother said in a susurrated tone, moving her hand to her daughters face to remove a strand of bright red hair out of her eyes.

Irene leaned her head into her mothers soft touch, pouting her lips a bit. Feeling a little frustrated that her pleading eyes did not work as well on her as they did to her Father.

Irene rolled over in her bed, reaching for one of the books on her bookshelf. "It's not my fault you make the stories so exciting to listen too." She nudged the new book into her mother's hands. "Please, Momma. Just one more?" Irene asked with her pleading voice and now sad eyes. Her mother sighed as she opened the book, shaking her head slightly.

"By the gods, Irene. I swear you get this night owlness from your father because when I was six years old I would have fallen sleep half way through these stories you make me and your father read to you everynight." Her mother explained as she gave a glance to her daughter before begining the book she was handed. Irene was smirking happily as she wiggled herself underneath the covers once more. Hannah studied the cover of the book her daugther handed her before she read it, giving a quiet sign as she has read this book multiple times. "The adventures of being a Spectre." Hannah read out loud as Irene's smirk grew into a very wide smile, closing her eyes so she will be able to dream of being a hero with her own ship and crew to lead to save the Galexy from whatever danger there was out there.

"Pew! Pew pew pew!" Irene tried to mimicked the sounds of a gun, grasping her hands together and having only both of her pointer fingers exstended. Running around the playground at her school, occasionally ducking or taking cover behind a tree or a slide. Her friend from the other side giggled as they shot their imaginary guns at eachother.

"You're going down, Tommy! you won't get away with all of the Cafateria's chocolate puddin'!" Irene shouted as she did a very underdeveloped duck and roll, shooting once again towards Tommy's direction. Tommy ducked behind his sandbox cover. "You are too late, Commander Shepard! We both know you only have one shot left. Might as well use it to end your-" Tommy's words went quiet as he peared over his cover, only to not be able to see Irene anymore. "Irene?" Tommy said in a concern voice to air, coming out of character as the evil villian. He looked around the play ground trying to find where Irene went.

Before Tommy could even turn around, he felt a finger on the back of his head, completely freezing under the imaginary gun. "All I need is one, and it's Commander Shepard to you." Irene said before she pulled her imaginary trigger, mimicking the sound of a gun once more as Tommy did a over-dramatic fall to the ground, wailing as he fell in defeat. Irene and Tommy held still for a moment before they both broke out laughing.

"You got me, Irene. The chocolate puddin' is all yours!" Tommy said, as he reached into his sweatshirt pocket, pulling out a small container of chocolate pudding and holding it out to Irene. Irene smirked as she grabbed her prize from his grasp. She looked at the small container of sugary goodness before she looked back at Tommy. "Why don't we share it? You were a good bad guy." Tommy smiled, giving her a little pat to the top of her head. "I would like that. I'll go inside and grab some spoons." He said as he turned to walk inside of cafeteria to grab said spoons.

Irene sat herself down the stairs leading away from the Cafeteria, looking up at the sky as she waited for Tommy to come back with the spoons. She hummed softly a tone she made up on the spot. Tommy was always there to play with her when the other kids thought she was weird, wanting to play "Spectres and Pirates" as Irene and Tommy called it. Even though he was five and half years older than her, He still made some free time for her. Even as going far as walking home with her, which made sense because they were Neighbors.

After a moment of day dreaming she heard someone come up behind, turning around with a smile on her face. "That was fast-" She stopped her sentence cold when the figure that stood behind her was not her best friend but some kid she remembered seeing a couple times on the playground. "Gimme that." The kid hissed as he reached for the prized chocolate pudding, Irene naturally pulled away, standing up. "No! This is mine, didn't you buy your own?" The kid glared at her, crossing his arms over his chest. Regardless if they were on the same step or not, The boy was still much taller then Irene was. "I don't need to buy my lunch, I just take what I want from little shrimps like you." The boy hissed again, reaching for the chocolate pudding again just to fail to grab it once more, only being able to grab Irene's hair. Irene yelped a little when the boy pulled on her hair, she tried to wiggle away but that just made him pull harder.

Irene wanted to yell for help, even as going as far as calling out Tommy's name but that's not what Commander Shepard would do, Commander Shepard could save herself from bullies as pitiful as this kid. Using one hand to keep the pudding out of reach and the other trying to rip the boys grip from her hair, she kicked and squirmed under his hold. The boy pulled harder, pulling Irene to the ground, trying to pin her down to stop her from kicking him. Irene cluched onto the pudding with all her might with both hands as she was being pinned down to the ground, The boy holding her head down with her hair and using his free hand trying to rip the Pudding from Irene's grasp.

Irene could feel the tears weilding up in her eyes, but she refused to let them show. Commanders don't cry, they don't show weakness so easily. She sent her knee up to the boy's gut as hard as she could, hearing a loud groan from the boy on top of her. She looked up to see if he was giving up finally. The boy groaned for a moment before he sent a hard glare down to the little girl underneath him. "That hurt you brat!" he shouted as he balled his free hand into a fist, aiming for her face. Irene closed her eyes shut, preparing for the hard inpact and her very first punch. But she didn't feel any pain, all she heard was another grunt and the weight holding her hair was suddenly gone. She opened her eyes to see Tommy with his fist where the boys face used to be a moment ago.

"Tommy!" Irene cried out as she scurried onto her feet, looking behind her to see the boy who fell down the 3 step-stairs from being punched in the nose. The boy groaned as he held his face, bursting into tears. Irene looked back to Tommy, who now moved his focus onto her. "Irene, are you okay?!" Tommy asked in a very concerned voice, placing his hands on Irenes shoulders. Irene stared at him for a moment before she burst into tears as well, finally dropping the chocolate pudding onto the ground and holding her face in her hands. "Tommy!" She cried out in half sobs, "I tried really hard to be brave and to kick him off!" She choked out, rubbing her wet eyes of their tears. Tommy reached into his back pocket and took out a napkin he grabbed meant for them in case they made a mess sharing the pudding. "Shhh... It's okay Irene. You were very brave. " He tried to calm her, handing her the napkin, she took it after a few tears fell and blowed into it with her running nose.

A teacher finally came into the scene, running to the bullie's side. Knealing down to see how badly the boy was injured. Tommy and Irene turned their gaze to the teacher, watching as the teacher helped the bully onto his feet again. "My god, what happened here? Jarad, why is your nose bleeding?" The teacher asked, Jarad pointed to Tommy and Irene. The teacher followed his finger and looked to Tommy, with concern and a little anger. "Why would you do that, Tommy? I demand you apologize to Jarad right now." Tommy shook his head. "I will not, Jarad had Irene pinned down by her hair and was about to punch her." Tommy explained, Irene peared behind Tommy as silent tears still rolled down her cheek. The teacher moved his troubled gaze to Irene, who only hid from his gaze behind Tommy, grabbing his sweatshirt as she tried to hide her face into his back. She hated it when anyone else other than Tommy and her Parents saw her cry.

"Even so that is no excuse to almost breaking Jarads nose, He is only eight and you are what, Ten?" The teacher asked Tommy, who still kept his strong gaze at the teacher. "And Irene is only six." He said in a harsher tone then he intended. The teacher pulled out a handercheif from his pocket and handed it to Jarad to help prevent the blood from gushing out of his nose. "Enough! You should have gotten a teacher and use your words, not your fist! Now go to the princibles office, both of you." The teacher demanded, Guiding Jarad to the nurses office with an arm wrapped around him. Tommy was about to refuse but he just bit his bottom lip and looked down to Irene before they walked off. Irene stayed closed to Tommy, holding his hand as they walked to the Princible's office. Leaving the container of chocolate pudding on the cafeteria steps.

Irene sat on her bed in her room, hugging a pillow as tightly as she could to her chest. It's been well past a few hours after when she finally stopped crying and her parents came to pick her up at the Princibles office. The look of concern on her mothers face and the fact that Tommy got into a lot of trouble with his parents for punching Jarad was enouogh to make her stomach twist all night. If only she was strong enough to handle Jarad on her own, then maybe Tommy wouldn't have a bruised knuckle and suspended from school for two days. Maybe if she just given into the bully and hand over her pudding things could have gone right. She was torn away of her thoughts when there was a knock onto her door, she turned her head and saw it was her father. Her father hanged in the door way as the door swung open, leaning his shoulder onto the door frame. "So, you wanna tell me what happened today Soldier?"

"Tommy was just protecting me..." she said in a soft tone, glancing down to her lap. "I heard that already, what I wanna know is how did this even happen in the first place." Her father explained as he walked over to her bedside and sat down on her bed, resting a hand on his lap and his other hand on the bed to support his weight. Irene mumbled a bit as she spoke. "Tommy went inside the Cafeteria to grab spoons for the chocolate puddin'... While he was gone, Jarad came up and started to demand for the puddin', trying to grab it out of my hands. Then, when Jarad was about to punch me, Tommy came back and punch him off of me." Her father moving his hand to the back of his neck, rubbing it gently.

"You do know what you did wrong, right Soldier?" He asked her, moving so he could sit next to her, wrapping an arm around her. Irene leaned her head onto her fathers shoulder. "You should have called for a teacher. Thats what your mom wanted me to say." He said, now in a hushed tone, which brought a smile onto Irenes face. "Personally if I was Tommy I would have punched that bully twice." He gave Irene's arm a queeze. "I heard that, David." Hannah said from down the hall. Both Irene and David laughed, as her mother walked into the room.

"But you did do something wrong today, Irene." Her mother started, as she walked up to David, grabbing his free hand. "It's one of the most important things all those Allience books say and teach you." Irene tried to think for a moment before her mother could answer but she decided to remain silent. "Team work." her mother finally answered. "In a way, Tommy is your partner, your team. and you are gonna have to rely on him. Because if you don't rely on your team, the people you care about could get hurt." Irene let out a sign, mentally kicking herself over for not thinking of something so simple. "Now, I believe it is time for dinner." Her mother announced, turning around and walking out the door. "My delicious dinner is getting cold." David practically jumping out of her bed, rushing out the door.

"I call dibs the last of the mash potatoes!" He called out. Irene gasped and scurried out of her bed, rushing after her father as fast as she could go. "Not fair, Papa!" She yelled back at him. Hannah had to dodge them both to prevent from being trampled down the stairs. David ran speeding past her, and after a moment Irene did the same. David hid, waiting around the corner for Irene to run by, and as she did He scooped her into his arms and up in the air. Laughter and squealing could be heard through out the house. " Watch out! it's the raspberry monster! AARRG!" David yelled as he gave Irene multible raspberries on her cheek, top of her head, and her stomach. Irene screamed with glee. "Save me, momma! Control your husband!" Irene yelled inbetween giggles. Hannah, finally coming down the stairs safely smiled at her family. Silently thanking god for letting her life be so perfect at this moment.

**Author's Note**

Thank you for reading my story and I hoped you enjoyed it! Give me a review if you liked it, I really like writing this chapter and I really hope my grammar is okay because I have no one to edit this for me and if there are mistakes, I am sorry! Mass effect does not belong to me nor their characters, I am just a weird fan writing about them.


	2. Chapter 2

What Makes A Survivor

Chapter 2

"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any"

By Alice Walker

"How could you lose this month's payment for the bills, David?!" Hannah shouted. Irene could hear from the vent that connected to her bedroom to the kitchen. Irene had her ear to the vent so she could listen to her parent's argument.

"I don't know, how could you have forgotten to get Irene a present for her birthday?!" David shouted back, Irene heard the screeches from the feet of his chair against the wooden floor.

"The girl didn't even wanted to have a party and you forget the ONE thing she was looking forward too!?" David ranted towards his wife.

"I thought you, "Mr. I can handle anything", was going to handle it because I would apparently get the wrong toy!" Hannah shouted back as she slammed the fridge door open and close, probably putting away what's left of Irene's birthday cake and dinner.

"Besides, I already cleared that up with Irene when I promised her I would take her shopping tomorrow to get the damn toy and to buy her a new dress! You still have to fix the problem about not being able to pay for this month's bills! What the hell is "Mr. I can handle anything" going to do about that?!"

"I will ask for more hours at work to bring in some more credits, until than I guess I will have to pay a little out of our savings until we catch up with our bills again!" David countered; Irene heard foot stomps below her, too loud to be her mothers.

"Oh great, take credits out of OUR savings! Because it is OUR fault that we don't have the credits to pay the bills this month! You still haven't told me where the hell the credits WENT, David!" The sound of the cabinet keeping the secret wine that she wasn't supposed to know was in the house door open, being able to hear her mother very clearly since the vent was next to the wine cabinet.

"I don't have to tell you, Hannah!" David shouted back, running out of smart comments to make back to his wife.

"Yes you do, David! That is the whole point of being married!" Hannah argued back while she poured herself a glass of wine.

"No, this discussion is OVER. I am going to bed to try to sleep off this headache you gave me!" David shouted throughout the house as he stomps his way upstairs.

"David, come back here! DAVID!" Hannah shouted towards David but he just ignored her, slamming the door to their bedroom. Hannah sat down with a heavy sigh, taking a sip of her wine.

Irene sat up from lying on the floor. She brushed off whatever her party dress might've picked up from laying on the ground like that. She walked to her bedroom window and unlocked the hinged that kept it locked, letting the windows naturally swing open. She crawled out of her window and reached for a branch from a huge tree that stood right outside of her window. She pulled herself up out of her window and onto the branch, leaning her back on the main of the tree and looking up to the sky at the moon. "How did the day go so wrong so fast?" Irene whispered to herself, letting go of a big sigh as she closes her eyes and leans her head to the tree.

"I said HELLO!" Tommy whispered loudly as he throws a stick he picked up at Irene's head. Irene opened her eyes just after the stick hits the side of her head, cursing underneath her breath.

"Ouch! Tommy? What the fuck?!" She whispered loudly back at him as she shot a small glare at him.

"Hey, no cursing young lady!" He replied, still whispering as he kneeled behind a bush that was near the tree Irene was in. Irene rolled her eyes a bit at him, Tommy ignored it.

"Come on down, I have a birthday surprise for you." Tommy whispered, gesturing with his hands for her to come to him. Irene didn't even resist, she was already half way down from the big tree she had herself held up in. Climbing down with the help of the big branches that grew out everywhere on said tree.

"How did you even know I was up there?" She asked as she was climbing off the second to last branch. She could see her mother from the kitchen window, Hannah's back to her and her head in her hands.

"I saw that your bedroom window was open and I am the only one who knows that means you went to your secret spot in your tree." Tommy said as he moved himself closer to where Irene was climbing down to.

"Yeah but how did you find out about m-" Irene stopped her sentence when she felt her foot miss the last branch, feeling herself fall backwards. Irene yelped a little as she fell, falling right into distracted Tommy, causing a loud thud as they hit the ground.

Irene and Tommy lay still for a moment, hoping her mother didn't hear the weird noises coming from outside the kitchen window. After a while of not hearing anything, Irene inched her head up slowly above the bush that hid them. She saw that her mother had not moved, however the glass of wine next to her had become a little emptier.

"Blue skies..." Irene whisper down to Tommy, who was trying not to groan from how hard he hit his head on the rock that was conveniently underneath his head.

"You mean she didn't notice?" Tommy asked as he moved his head from the rock.

"Yes." Irene replied in short, sitting up straight on Tommy's lap.

"Good. Then get off." He said quickly as he pushed Irene off of him.

"We don't have a lot of time to waste." Tommy said as he moved to his feet, heading towards down the street.

"Not a lot of time for what?" Irene asked as she moved to her feet, following behind him.

"For what?" Tommy stops and turns towards Irene with one of his wicked grins that could make anyone smile back. "For your surprise..." He replied in his normal voice as he holds out his hand to her.

"Tommy, are we there yet?" Irene asked as she trailed behind her best friend. She has known Tommy for years; he has always been there for her. Bullies, bleeding knees, getting in trouble together, everything. She remembers the first day she met him.

_"Momma! I wanna walk to school with you." Irene whined while she sits on the porch of her house. Her mother handed her red backpack with her N7 lunch box. _

_"Come on, Irene. We met the new family last week, and their son is very nice. You will be fine and I can get more work done." Hannah replied as she fixes the matching red bow on Irene's hair. Irene pouts as she stands up, moving out of reach of her mother, down the street where she is supposed to wait for the new boy. _

_"Have a good day at school, and please try not to ruin your dress this time." Hannah says as she waves to her daughter from the porch. _

_Irene sat down on the curb, still pouting her famous pout. She didn't understand why she had to walk with the new kid on the block. He smelled weird and made jokes that weren't funny. It's bad enough that the kids at school already didn't like her, now she has to walk with the smelly kid who told jokes that weren't real jokes. _

_"Why so glum, Rene?" Tommy asked as he comes up behind her, his own backpack and lunch bag in hand. _

_"Irene... My name is Irene. Ya'know, with an 'I'" Irene replied as she turns to look up at the smelly new kid. She gave him one last glare before she got up and started walking down the street, towards the school and trying to block out Tommy. _

_"Hey, we are supposed to walk together. Wait up!" Tommy fast walked to catch up to Irene. _

_"Haul your butt than, we are gonna be late." Irene replied, fast walking as fast as she could in her black mary janes, and trying to be faster than Tommy. _

_"Why are you in that get-up anyway? Last time I saw you, you were covered in dirt and grass stains... now you are all... clean" Tommy commented as he finally was able to catch up with Irene. Irene chose to ignore him again, angry that he could keep up with her._

_"Hey, I have a joke for you." 'Here it comes, the jokes which aren't funny' Irene thought. _

_"You ready?" Tommy asked, looking down to the little girl that was ignoring him as they fast walked side by side. _

_"Okay. I used to be addicted to soap, but I am clean now. Badum tss" He finished the joke, mimicking the sound of drums she guessed._

_"I don't get it, how can you be addicted to soap and still smell?" Irene replied, looking up at him. Tommy frowned, shaking his head. _

_"No, you don't get it. You are too young to get it. And I DON'T smell!" Irene rolled her eyes at him and smirked. _

_"This is mostly my Momma's doing." Irene began to reply to Tommy's question from earlier. "When I am home I can get as dirty as I want, climb as many trees as I want. When Papa is home, have as many cookies as I want." _

_"But why do you have to be clean now?" Tommy asked again. _

_"Because Momma said I have to look nice so I can make friends." Irene replied not looking at him. _

_"But this isn't the real you... is it?" That finally got Irene to look up at him again, but only for a moment. _

_"No. but it's what people like." Irene stopped at the cross walk, waiting for the walking sign to turn green. On the other side of the street beside them was a group of the girls from school. Irene waved at them with a big smile. When they looked at her, they laughed and ignored her, crossing the street when the light finally turned green. Irene frowned, looking down as she crosses the street. _

_"I like you better when you are the real you." Tommy said, walking behind her. Irene stopped and looked back to him with a little shock showing on her face. _

_"You do?" she asked in a soft tone. Tommy smiled a wide, wicked smile. Tommy extended his hand towards her, still smiling. "Come on, we are gonna be late for school." He said in a calm tone. Irene stared at him a moment, turning a bit to watch the girls that ignored her still walking away. She turned back to tommy, which still held his hand out with his wide smile. Irene smiled just as wide, pulling the stupid, red bow from her hair before she grabbed Tommy's hand. "Let's go, you smelly weirdo." _

"We are almost there; I promise you this is going to be worth it." Tommy replied as they walk up the steep hill hand in hand.

"Isn't it already past 12:00? Ya'know, past my birthday?" Irene asked, doing her best to keep up with the 15 year old boy leading her up the slightly steep hill.

"It's 11:58, so no." Tommy said as they finally got to the top of the hill. There, waiting for them was a blanket, sparkling apple cider with two plastics champagne glasses, and two slices of apple pie, one with a candle on it. Irene questionable look dissolved into a wide smile, she turned and looked at Tommy. "You did all this for me?" She asked in almost a whisper, surprised that her horrible night was getting better by the minute. Tommy nodded sheepishly, moving to sit down on the blanket with Irene.

"It gets better, just wait a minute." He said as he poured the sparkling apple cider into the plastic champagne glasses.

Tommy offered the sparkling cider to Irene, who gladly accepted it. "What are we waiting for?" She asked, but Tommy just looked in front of them.

"Shh... give it a minute." Irene just smiled at him for a moment before she followed his gaze, trying to guess what was going to happen next. After another moment, there was a small popping sound coming from a far distance. A second after the popping noise, a white light flew from the ground not very far from them to the sky. There, the firework exploded in the sky, with the colors of blue, then red, then green. Irene gasped, her eyes lighting up with delight, almost as bright as the fireworks exploding in front of her. After the first one, another came after it, even bigger and brighter than the last. The last one took a minute for it to shoot up to the sky, but once it did, it exploded a bright red light, and formed into two Letters. "I. S." Irene said softly as she stared at her present.

"Irene Shepard..." Tommy replied, looking at Irene with his wicked smile still going strong. "I pulled some strings with some of my Dad's friends, took a while to set up but I figured this was better than hearing your parents argue again."

"I love it..." Irene said as she finally looked at him from the fireworks that had died out. Tommy hold out her plate with the Apple pie and candle, now lit, on it. "Good... Now make a wish."

Irene smiled once more before she closed her eyes, thinking for but a moment before she blew out the candle. She opened her eyes again, smiling harder than she had for a while.

"Happy Birthday, Irene Shepard." Tommy said, handing her a fork.

Irene swallowed the bite of apple pie she took, giggling lightly. "So do you still plan on doing the Alliance Military training university?" She asked while slicing another bite side of Apple pie with her fork.

"Yeah, I guess. I mean my father really wants me to apply, and it will be a great opportunity to get off of this damn planet." Tommy said, staring up at the sky.

"I agree with that, See different planets, go on missions, have great adventures" Irene said, while imitating a gun with her hands, pointing it at different objects around her like Tommy's apple pie and a tree near them, then aiming it at Tommy.

Tommy laughed a bit, moving out of her aim. "Yeah, those too. But you are forgetting how serious you would have to be while on those missions and adventures."

"I can be serious!" She exclaimed while waving him off with her fork that had a slice of apple pie on it, sticking it in her mouth with a humph.

"You are going to have to be more than serious, Irene. You have to work with a team, and make hard decisions. Make sacrifices and taking some bullets."

Irene scoffed at him. "I can handle all of that, and I certainly won't be taking any bullets. I will be the best fucking Soldier there ever was!" She claimed, waving her fork in the air before she sliced for another piece of apple pie.

"We would make a pretty good team, just like when we played Spectre and Pirates as kids, though I won't be the villain." Tommy said as he smiled at her.

"We already make a pretty good time, right now." Irene smiled at him while chewing the piece of apple pie in her mouth. Tommy just gave her a sheepish smile in return.

"Come here." Tommy said, opening his arms to her. Irene scooted closer, moving into his hug. "Even if you take bullets-"

"Which I won't!" Irene claimed as she wrapped her arms tight around him.

Tommy continued. "Or if you have to make sacrifices, hard decisions, know that I will always be there for you."

Irene moved her head to look at him, giving him her gentle smile. "And I will always be there for you." She moved hand out, extending her pinky out to him. "I promise."

Tommy stared at her pinky for a moment, extending his pinky out and linking it with hers. "I promise."

Irene was humming as she skipped down the street, looking up at the stars as she did. Tommy watched her as they made their way back to her house. "You will trip and fall if you don't watch where you are going." Tommy warned Irene, but she ignored him and continued on.

"I am not as clumsy as you are Tommy. I am a very balanced person." She replied, looking back at him for a moment before she continued on skipping and humming.

"Says the girl who fell out of a tree less than an hour ago..." Tommy remarked as he shook his head to her.

"Well, maybe I like to live on the edge. No point in being afraid to die and to live now is there?" She asked, not really looking for an answer.

Her skipping and humming stopped when they got close enough to her home. Irene walked up to the tree that was beside her house, her bedroom window still open and the lights still on. She sighed, looking up at the tree. She could feel Tommy's eyes on her back; she slowly turned to meet his gaze. "Do you want to know what I wished for?" She asked him, Tommy just raised one of his eyebrows.

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose?" He asked, Irene just shook her head.

"I want you to know. I can also knock on wood to counter that." She said, smiling at him. "I wished things wouldn't change, and that I could feel this happy forever."

Tommy smiled, not his wicked smile though, almost sad but still cheery. "What a waste of a wish, I would've wished for a new bike or something."

Irene shrugged, turning to the tree and giving it three knocks. "You do it too." She said, turning slightly to look at him. She watched him as he walked up to the tree; he gave it three hard knocks.

"There, now will you go to bed before your parents notice you are gone?" Irene gave him one gentle smile before she started to climb up the big tree. It only took her a few moments until she reached the branch that reached right beside her bedroom window.

She climbed in, listening for a moment for her parents. She turned back to the window, looking down to where Tommy stood. His hands in his pockets, still wearing the smile that made Irene feel a little sad for some reason. She mouthed to him "Thank you..." Giving him a gentle wave. Tommy took a hand out of his pocket to wave back.

"Any time, Kid..." He mouthed back to her. He turned and started to walk to his house. Irene watched until she couldn't see him anymore. She let out a heavy sigh, closing her window gently. She moved to her bed, taking off her shoes and stripping down to her underwear and Camisole. She crawled underneath her sheets, and got herself comfortable in her bed. "Please don't let anything change..." She whispered to herself silently before she fell asleep.

Irene woke up the next morning, not being able to recall that she even had a dream. She rubbed her eyes as she stretched herself in her bed. She could hear voices coming from outside. She turned her head to see her window was open, she guessed it must of swung open sometime last night since she didn't lock it. She sighed, crawling out of bed and over the window to close it. Just before she closed it, she heard the voices grew louder. Her eyes met with a huge white bus, mostly empty except for a few boys and the driver. The bus sat parked outside of Tommy's house. Irene raised one of her eyebrows, looking closer to the words that were on the side of the bus in big black letters.

"AMTU..." She muttered to herself silently, trying to remember what those letters stood for. Her sleepy eyes shot open, wide and awake when she remembered. "Alliance Military Training University..." She gasped the words out, rushing to her bed side and pulling on her dress and mary janes she had on last night. She burst out of her bedroom, down the hall, almost running over her mother. Hannah had to dodge her in order to not get knocked over. "Irene, what is wrong?!" Hannah called out to her daughter, not getting a reply.

Once she got to the front door, Irene had to fumble with the lock before she could get the damn door to open. She cursed under her breath, bursting out of the door once she got it to open and towards Tommy's house. Tommy his duffle bag over his shoulder was walking down his pathway out of his house. His father walked beside of him as they walked towards the huge white bus.

"Tommy!" Irene cried out, she could feel her stomach sinking and the adrenaline rushing through her veins. Tommy turned his head to Irene, wearing a sad but mostly straight face when he looked at her. Irene ran up to him, slowly down when she got close enough and tried to catch her breath.

"What the hell is going on?" She asked, looking between Tommy and his father.

"I got accepted to AMTU..." Tommy said bluntly.

"And you were going to leave without telling me?! I thought you weren't going until at least another year!" Irene cried out again, now starting to feel tears weld up in her eyes, but she blinked them back to where they came from.

"Irene... I just couldn't tell you..." Tommy started, still having his straight face on. "I know how sudden and hard this all might be but I have to g-"

"You promised me you'd always be there for me!" Irene yelled, interrupting him. "You fucking swore!" She shouted again.

"Irene, watch your language." Tommy warned, but Irene just shook her head.

"You are my ONLY friend, and you were just going to leave me like I am nothing?!" She shouted again, the tears now falling.

Tommy dropped his duffle bag, placing his hands on Irene's shoulder. "Irene, I don't think you are nothing... Telling you would've made it so much harder for me"

"You?!" Irene yelled, brushing his hands off of her shoulders. "It would've hurt me so much more if you just left without telling me!"

"Irene…. Don't you see? This is our dream. Unfortunately, you are too young to come with me but I must begin now." Tommy tried to comfort her, but they just went through her like the cold wind.

"No, you want to go now." Irene said, a little too coldly than she intended.

Tommy sighed, shaking his head a bit at her. "You know that's not true, but there is nothing else that I can say that will make this any better." He reached down, grabbing his duffle bag and throwing it over his shoulder. "I am sorry, Irene. Just know that what I said was true."

Irene just stared at him for a moment as silent tears rolled down her cheeks, biting on her bottom lip. "Do you know how much I am going to miss you?"

"Probably just as much as I am going to miss you…'' Tommy replied, moving closer to her, wrapping his free arm around her shoulders and giving her a tight squeeze. After a moment of silence, Irene hugged him back. He moved back, giving her a sad smile, and head towards the bus that was waiting for him.

Hannah walked behind Irene, placing a soft hand on her shoulder. Irene turned to her, wrapping her arms around her mother as they watched Tommy board the bus. Hannah allowed her daughter to use her shirt to wipe her tears with. Irene continued to silently sob as she watched her only friend, her team mate board the white bus that would take him away for five years, or more.

Tommy sat down towards the back in an empty due seat, setting his duffle bag beside him. He looked out his window to look at Irene Hannah. Tommy's father stood straight up with a half-smile on his face. Already gotten his goodbye from his son earlier.

Tommy gave a gentle wave as the driver started up the bus. He mouthed the words "I will come back." To Irene.

"You better…" Irene mouthed back, wiping one last tear out of her eye with her mother's shirt.

**And that's it for this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. I think it looks a lot better than my first one now that I got Microsoft word to download on my dumb computer. I also worked hard to make it longer than the first, I wasn't able to keep track with how many words I was writing (Which was KILLING ME) If you liked the story, please feel free to leave a review. Your review will most likely have me smile for a whole week! If there are any grammar mistakes, I am terribly sorry. And as always, Mass Effect and its characters do not belong to me, I am just a bored Fan with a little too much time on her hands. Have an awesome day! **


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